Review: Taplas

As a debut album, this takes some beating. Uiscedwr, winners of the Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2002, have lived up to expectations and then some, producing a spirited and supremely confident recording. Anna Esslemont's beautiful fiddle soars in and out of Cormac Byrne's bodhran soundscapes, while guitarist Ben Hellings' non-folk background is evident in the way he's able to break down traditional ideas and constructs and rework them into something relevant but completely the band's own.

Many of the tunes are by Anna, with contributions from Ben. Others are from the pens of Michael McGoldrick and Ian Lowthian and there's even one from the score of Shirley Valentine. Sylistically, it's not traditional folk for purists. It embraces a mix of influences, including a good deal of Irish, but the scope takes in many different European ideas - a klezmer tune, Spanish-sounding fiddle styles and eastern European sounds and rhythms.

Of the songs, Sandra Kerr's No Going Back, written during the 1984 miners' strike, appropriately marks the 20 th anniversary. Anna and Ben's Mr and Mrs is a warmly told tale of the breakdown in family relationships and La Peri is gloriously sweet